Entirely composed of scrapbooks of newspaper clippings, the collection illustrates the campaigns of each mayor and the accomplishments of each administration. Apparently some of the scrapbooks were compiled from local and area newspapers by the mayor's staff, since those books are very similar. Each contains separate sections for clippings regarding the mayor; aldermen; city council; and various city government committees, boards, and departments. Other categories include topics of local and national interest, such as war news and other current events, elections, Fourth of July celebrations, the county board, and the University of Wisconsin campus. Included with the Wendt scrapbooks are two which deal with strikes in 1937 and 1947 at the J.I. Case Company in Racine. The 1937 book is a personal record of the strike and of Wendt's involvement as union attorney. The first of the Gothner scrapbooks, illustrating his campaigns of 1949 and 1951, is also a personal, rather than an administration, record.
